Oak Ridge Today

Christmas coffeehouse at First Presbyterian for Free Medical Clinic

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Ellen Bast Performs Modern Dance at a Coffeehouse

Ellen Bast will perform modern dance at tonight’s Christmas Coffeehouse. (Submitted photo)

College students who are home for the holidays are hosting a coffeehouse fundraiser with live music on tonight (Friday night) from 7 to 10 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge.

The young adults hope to generate enough proceeds tonight to give a “very merry” Christmas to the clinic. The coffeehouses have become a reliable and persistent funding source for the clinic. The students have donated more than $12,000 since 2011 from the coffeehouse.

“We give them 100 percent of what we bring in, ” said Sumner Byrne, George Washington University student and event organizer. “It feels great to be making a difference.”

Byrne said many students who participate attend different colleges.

“This is a great place to get together, enjoy old friends, and make some new ones,” Byrne said. “The coffeehouse music provided by local musicians is always superb, and we raise money for a good cause. How much better can it get?” [Read more…]

AMSE’s operating contract with for-profit could be replaced by nonprofit

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American Museum of Science and Energy

The American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge is pictured above.

The contract with the for-profit company that runs the American Museum of Science and Energy will change from quarterly to monthly starting Jan. 1, and a museum expert could be hired on an interim basis to assess the museum, its place in the community, and a logical new operating structure.

The museum is now funded by the U.S. Department of Energy at a cost of about $1.5 to $1.6 million per year, said David Keim, communications director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Revenues from the gift shop, admissions, and programs add up to about $300,000 per year.

But officials have long said that the department should not be operating the museum.

“It’s always been a government-funded operation,” Keim said. But, “DOE is not in the museum business.”

In June, a group of museum directors brought to Oak Ridge from around the country recommended that the museum be run by a community-based nonprofit organization—not DOE and not a for-profit company, Keim said. [Read more…]

Legal Aid Society promotes Janet Mynatt to managing attorney in Oak Ridge

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Janet Mynatt

Janet Mynatt

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, Tennessee’s largest nonprofit law firm, announced on Monday that it has promoted Janet Mynatt to managing attorney of the Oak Ridge office. Mynatt is replacing former Managing Attorney Neil McBride, who retired this month after 35 years of service.

Mynatt joined Legal Aid Society as a staff attorney at the Oak Ridge office in 2001. In 2005-06, she was awarded a John G. Brooks Consumer Law Fellowship through the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and the National Consumer Law Center. She graduated from the Tennessee Bar Association’s Leadership Law Program in 2009 and served as president of the Anderson County Bar Association in 2011.

“Janet is an outstanding attorney and natural leader—the perfect person to fill the big shoes of Neil McBride, who has managed the Oak Ridge office since 1978,” said Gary Housepian, executive director of Legal Aid Society. “She has helped many, many people in the Oak Ridge area throughout her time at Legal Aid Society and has been an active member of the community. I have no doubt that our Oak Ridge office will continue to have a significant impact in Oak Ridge and throughout the surrounding region under Janet’s leadership.” [Read more…]

Service of Memory and Hope at First Presbyterian on Tuesday

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Sharon Youngs

Sharon Youngs

The First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge will hold its second annual Service of Memory and Hope at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the sanctuary.

“This candlelight service is for those who seek a peaceful setting to remember loved ones and friends who are no longer with us, those who are currently going through a difficult time in their lives, and those who, for whatever reason, find this time of year to be particularly hard,” said the Rev. Sharon Youngs, church pastor.

The service will feature an opportunity to light candles in memory of loved ones, prayer, and comforting music presented by the Rev. Youngs on guitar and Music Director Anna Thomas on flute.

Child care will be offered during the service. The church is located at the northeast corner of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Lafayette Drive.

Anderson County Toy Run raises money for children at Christmas, helps them shop

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Santa Claus at Kmart

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Each year for 21 years, the Anderson County Toy Run has worked hard to raise funds for children at Christmas.

In February, there is a Chili Cook off; in April, June, and August, there are poker runs; and in October, there is a Parade Run and final effort to raise funds for that year.

Local churches help gather the list of the children, and at 7 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Oak Ridge Kmart and Clinton Walmart, 150 children were greeted by Santa Claus and volunteers and staff of the Anderson County Toy Run and local football teams, churches, and other organizations who helped the children shop. [Read more…]

League of Women Voters to mark Bill of Rights Day on Sunday

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League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge will join with chapters across America to mark the 222nd anniversary on Dec. 15 of the adoption of the Bill of Rights with a call for improved political discourse and greater civic participation in our community.

The Bill of Rights—the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution—is generally considered to be the mainstay of our constitutional freedom, a press release said. They are said to guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government’s power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public. The League of Women Voters believes the best way to honor this historic document is to protect the freedom it guarantees.

For more than 90 years, the League of Women Voters of the United States has defended civil liberties and promoted balanced civic discourse on important community issues. Its mission is to increase civic participation—to help individuals recognize the critical importance of protecting and honoring our most cherished constitutional rights because they impact our everyday lives. [Read more…]

Weekly memorial for veterans moves to Municipal Building on Sunday

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Friendship Bell Repairs

A symbol of the friendship between Oak Ridge and Japan, the 20-year-old Friendship Bell at Alvin K. Bissell Park is closed while the city make repairs to the structure holding up the bell.

Since the structure housing the Friendship Bell is under repair for an indeterminate amount of time, the group that has met each week for more than 400 Sundays to ring the Friendship Bell in remembrance of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in recent years, for Anderson County veterans of American wars, will meet Sunday, Dec. 15, at the Veterans Memorial/Flag Pole in front of the Oak Ridge Municipal Building.

The memorial is at 12:20 p.m. Sunday.

The group, which varies in composition and number, plans to meet each week when the weather forecast is dry, a press release said. When the weather forecast is wet, the names to be read in memorium will be saved for the next gathering. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Christmas Parade still on—rain or shine

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Oak Ridge Christmas Parade

The Oak Ridge Christmas Parade is at 6 p.m. Saturday. (Photo by D. Ray Smith)

The Oak Ridge Christmas Parade will take place rain or shine Saturday evening, officials said.

The parade is organized by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, and it starts at 6 p.m. Saturday.

“According to the hour-by-hour forecast, the rain should be out of here before the parade takes place—keep your fingers crossed!” the chamber said.

This year’s theme is “Inside Santa’s Workshop,” and the parade promises to provide spectators with plenty of music, lights, and beautiful floats, a press release said. [Read more…]

Holiday concert on Sunday features Oak Ridge Symphony, Chorus, Sound Company

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Sound Company Children's Performing Choir

The Sound Company Children’s Performing Choir of Oak Ridge is pictured above singing in an earlier concert. (File photo)

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will join Sound Company and the Oak Ridge Chorus to “ring in” the holiday season during a concert on Sunday.

The concert starts at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

The holiday concert is presented by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association.

The orchestra, under the direction of Dan Allcott, will open the concert with the “Hanukah Festival Overture,” composed by Knoxville’s own Lucas Richman. Music from “Mass of the Children,” and “Colors of Christmas,” will feature the children and the civic choruses. The performance will be dedicated to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Connecticut last year. [Read more…]

Christmas sing-along at First Baptist on Sunday

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Oak Ridge Community Band

The Oak Ridge Community Band performs at the Dec. 6 Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony at the Civic Center. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Community Band and Wind Ensemble has a Christmas sing-along concert on Sunday.

The free concert is at 7 p.m. Sunday at the First Baptist Church at 1101 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The concert will be held in the church sanctuary, dress is casual, and song books will be handed to the audience members to sing familiar Christmas carols along with the band, a press release said.

Another highlight of the concert will be several selections performed by the band including Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride,” Johann Bach’s “If Thou Be Near,” Gustav Holst’s “Christmas Day” featuring a medley of carols, and “The Little Drummer Boy” arranged by former Oak Ridge Community Band director Steve “Doc” Combs and former band member Glenn Bigelow. [Read more…]

ORNL FCU donates $65,000 to United Way, a 65 percent increase

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ORNL Federal Credit Union and United Way of Anderson County

Pictured above from left to right are Lisa Thompson and Chris Boler, co-chairs of ORNL Federal Credit Union employee campaign; Leslie Daugherty, ORNL FCU loaned executive; and Edwena and Charles Crowe, 2013 UWAC campaign chair family. (Photo courtesy United Way of Anderson County)

Each fall, ORNL Federal Credit Union employees help raise funds for the United Way of Anderson County, and  donations this year were up more than 65 percent, a press release said.

ORNL FCU raised roughly $66,000, the release said. The money came from employee donations, ORNL FCU’s corporate donation, and an interactive employee auction site. The fundraising total was up significantly from 2012.

The theme of this year’s internal fundraising effort was Uni and Ted Way’s Excellent Adventure, a parody of the movie “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” the release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Community Orchestra plays seasonal music on Saturday

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Oak Ridge Community Orchestra Bass and Viola Sections

The bass and viola sections of the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra are pictured above. (Photos courtesy of Travis Witherington)

In its free concert at 2 p.m. Saturday, the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra will play well-known music associated with traditional celebrations in December.

“Everyone will immediately recognize the dashing ‘Sleigh Ride’ by Leroy Anderson, and the Christmas carols captured by William Burkhart in his special arrangement, ‘While in the Fields,'” a press release said. “You can savor the traditional Russian flavor with ‘Polonaise’ from the ‘Christmas Eve Suite’ by Rimsky-Korsakov, and ‘Russian Christmas Music’ by Alfred Reed. Moreover, you will enjoy the lilting style of traditional Jewish music in ‘Festive Sounds of Hanukah’ by Bill Holcombe.”

This eclectic mix of celebratory seasonal music will be performed at 2 pm. Saturday in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge, on the corner of the Oak Ridge Turnpike and LaFayette Drive. Admission is free. But, modest donations at the door to support the orchestra’s routine operating expenses will be appreciated. [Read more…]